BK014

Knight's Cross Panzers

The German 35th Panzer Regiment in WWII

Edited by Hanz Schaufler

Book Description

The 4th PzD was formed in 1938 in Bavaria and was the most decorated panzer division in the Wehrmacht. It was in southern Poland in 1939, Belgium and France in 1940. It moved to the eastern front in 1941 and stayed there until the end. It often spearheaded the assaults and took heavy fire for that honor but it usually accomplished its objectives. The 35th PzR was a integral part of the division, helping to achieve those objectives. In the early months of the war, it forced the Bug, Berezina and Dniepr Rivers and later saw action at the Desna, Drut and Vistula Rivers. Cities included Roslavl, Kiev, Orel, Mzensk, Tula, Stalingrad, Kursk, Gomel, Warsaw, Kovel. East Prussia, East Pomerania and the Kurland Front must also be included.
The end for the remnants of 4th PzD came on May 9th when it surrendered to the Russians near the mouth of the Vistula River. The ending for the 35th PzR occurred on April 16th with the sinking of the Goya. Nearly 6000 people died that day; only seven from the regiment survived.

This book is an operational history of the regiment from a personal perspective. It was created with the help of personal, regimental and divisional diaries. After the war the survivors of the 35th and also from the division added to the story from personal experiences. Some of the contributors include Eberbach, von Sauken, Christern and the biggest contributor was Hans Schaufler who also did a superb job of editing all these individual essays and comments into a coherent engaging story. It may be operational history but its not in the category of a data laden book from David Glantz. It won't state the specific Soviet units it faced. It won't give you the big picture, what was happening on the front. It will give you first hand experience of what it was like for the regiment in taking or defending hundreds of towns or rivers crossed, bridges captured, bridgeheads established etc.

The book includes 16 black and white maps of the key engagements like Orel, Tula, Kursk, near Bryansk. Many of them appear to be original war maps. They have lost some of their crispness in being copied to the book but they're still pretty good. There are also 57 photos of the men and their equipment in the field. They were all good. There is also an outstanding Appendix that supplies tables of useful information. It includes: Medal Recipients, Profiles on some of the contributors, the Establishment details of the 35th PzR, Listing of junior officers and senior Commanders, Reorganization details, a detailed Chronology of engagements and a Rank Comparison. I found this all interesting and should be helpful to anybody doing research on the regiment.

About the Author

Hans Schaufler lives in Germany.

REAL BATTLES • REAL SOLDIERS • REAL STORIES

"The 35th Pz Rgt was the most decorated panzer Rgt in the Wehrmacht of WWII. Written by a surviving veteran of the 35th. He takes the reader in the Polish '39, French '40 and Russian campaigns '41-45 where they fought, bled and died. No assignment was too tough for the hardened panzer veterans. Nor the odds too great for them to demonstrate their courage." - Michael Kelly, PzG Inc. President

BK014 - Knight's Cross Panzers; The German 35th Panzer Regiment in WWII

= English Text

Details: Softcover, 431 pages, approximate size 6 x 9 inches, English text.

$19.00 +s/h